Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of changes to shotgun licensing will have on the time taken to process shotgun licence renewals in Cambridgeshire.

The Government response to the 2023 firearms licensing consultation, published on 13 February 2025, included a commitment to having a public consultation on strengthening the licensing controls on shotguns to bring them more into line with the controls on other firearms in the interests of public safety. We will publish the consultation in due course.

We will also provide an impact assessment in relation to any changes that we intend to bring forward after the consultation, including on police firearms licensing departments, in the normal way.

The issuing of firearms certificates, resourcing of firearms licensing teams and the efficiency of police forces, including the timeframe taken for processing shotgun licence renewals, is a matter for individual Chief Officers of Police and Police and Crime Commissioners. Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Bedfordshire Police and Hertfordshire Constabulary work together as part of a tripartite arrangement intended to provide a consistent firearms licensing service across the three police force areas. The arrangements are led by Hertfordshire Constabulary and report to the Chief Constables of all three forces.